1999 Domaine Francois Raveneau Blanchot

Description

1999 Domaine Francois Raveneau Blanchot. Chablis Grand Cru, France.

BH

92

Burghound

This is textbook Blanchot with its ultra elegant, subtly spiced fruit and barely medium weight, superbly detailed, wonderfully mineral laden flavors that seem as though they're chiseled from liquid rock. By no means a big or powerful wine, in fact the Montée de Tonnerre is substantially more impressively constructed yet this simply outclasses it by virtue of its sheer elegance and finesse, not to mention the understated complexity and driving persistence. Do not expect to be bowled over by this wine; rather, it seduces through its wonderfully linear character, purity and superb breadth of expression. This is not a simple wine but I was extremely impressed at how something so compact and transparent could be so profound. In fact, this struck me as an exact parallel to the genius of a great d'Angerville Clos des Ducs with its Zen-like signature, e.g. the "real" signature was the absence of one. Some say that Blanchot is not deserving of grand cru status but I would suggest that those who are in doubt taste an example such as this against any of the premiers crus above; I submit that they will ultimately be found wanting, if not in size, weight or power then in completeness as this quite simply aggregates more attributes than any of the foregoing '99s. Tasted multiple times with consistent notes.